| Princess Leia's Stolen Death Star Plans | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Studio album by Palette-Swap Ninja | |
| Released | 2017 |
| Producer | Dan Amrich and Jude Kelley |
Princess Leia's Stolen Death Star Plans is a 2017 concept album, combining the music of every song on Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band with lyrics describing the plot of Star Wars . It was produced by Dan Amrich and Jude Kelley, under the name "Palette-Swap Ninja".
Kelley and Amrich first met when they were in a band together in California. Their shared interest in video games led to a friendship which continued even after Kelley moved to Boston in 2007. [1] At this point, they formed Palette-Swap Ninja, a long-distance musical collaboration [2] originally dedicated to parody songs about video games. [1] They soon realized that their most popular songs were those that had a narrative, and decided to make a concept album which would tell a complete story. [3]
Amrich's original idea was to combine the music from Tommy by The Who, with the plot of the documentary The King of Kong . [3] In 2012, Amrich and his wife Katrin Auch visited Kelley in Boston. While the three were at lunch, Amrich confessed that he could not make the King of Kong/Tommy combination work, at which point Auch said that a successful project of that type would require components that were "bigger (and) more universally beloved," like Star Wars or Sgt. Pepper. By the end of the meal, Amrich and Kelley had devised several of the song titles. [2]
Amrich spent two years writing the lyrics, [3] after which he and Kelley began the task of replicating the music; this primarily involved software, including Logic Pro, but also used some real instruments, [1] including the same model of electric organ that featured in "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds". [4]
Amrich and Kelley originally intended to release the album in December 2015, to coincide with the theatrical release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens , but felt that it was not ready; they similarly missed the December 2016 release of Rogue One . They finally released the album free online in May 2017, to commemorate the 40th anniversary of Star Wars and the 50th anniversary of Sergeant Pepper, which coincidentally were less than a month apart. [5]
Rolling Stone France commended the album as a "surprisingly elegant mixture of two masterpieces". [6] Paste lauded it as "meticulously planned" and "more perfect than it deserves to be." [7] Consequence praised Amrich and Kelley for "having told the film's story in order without futzing too much with each song's cadence and instrumentation." [4]
Io9 felt it was "most impressive" and "really good", and noted the inclusion of themes from John Williams' Star Wars music. [8] Jason Kottke called it "amazing". [9] Slate found its lyrics to be "clever", and observed that the music video begins with its own version of the opening crawl. [10]
In 2018, Amrich and Kelley — accompanied by the non-profit Awesöme Orchestra Collective — gave a free live performance of the album at the University of California, Berkeley's Hertz Hall. [5]
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band is the eighth studio album by the English rock band the Beatles. Released on 26 May 1967, Sgt. Pepper is regarded by musicologists as an early concept album that advanced the roles of sound composition, extended form, psychedelic imagery, record sleeves, and the producer in popular music. The album had an immediate cross-generational impact and was associated with numerous touchstones of the era's youth culture, such as fashion, drugs, mysticism, and a sense of optimism and empowerment. Critics lauded the album for its innovations in songwriting, production and graphic design, for bridging a cultural divide between popular music and high art, and for reflecting the interests of contemporary youth and the counterculture.
Geoffrey Ernest Emerick was an English sound engineer and record producer who worked with the Beatles on their albums Revolver (1966), Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967) and Abbey Road (1969). Beatles producer George Martin credited him with bringing "a new kind of mind to the recordings, always suggesting sonic ideas, different kinds of reverb, what we could do with the voices".
"Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles from their 1967 album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. It was written primarily by John Lennon with assistance from Paul McCartney, and credited to the Lennon–McCartney songwriting partnership. Lennon's son Julian inspired the song with a nursery school drawing that he called "Lucy – in the sky with diamonds". Shortly before the album's release, speculation arose that the first letter of each of the nouns in the title intentionally spelled "LSD", the initialism commonly used for the hallucinogenic drug lysergic acid diethylamide. Lennon repeatedly denied that he had intended it as a drug song, and attributed the song's fantastical imagery to his reading of Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland books.
"When I'm Sixty-Four" is a song by the English rock band The Beatles, written by Paul McCartney and released on their 1967 album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. It was one of the first songs McCartney wrote; he was about 14, probably in April or May 1956. The song was recorded in a key different from the final recording; it was sped up at the request of McCartney to make his voice sound younger. It prominently features a trio of clarinets throughout.
Mahavatar Babaji is the Himalayan yogi and guru who taught Kriya Yoga to Lahiri Mahasaya (1828–1895). Babaji first became recognized through the writings of Paramahansa Yogananda, who devoted a chapter of his Autobiography of a Yogi to Babaji and founded Self-Realization Fellowship, a modern yoga movement that Babaji is associated with. The cave near Ranikhet where Babaji met Lahiri Mahasaya is now a tourist attraction and place of pilgrimage in India.
The Yellow Album is The Simpsons' second album of originally recorded songs, released as a follow-up to the 1990 album The Simpsons Sing the Blues. Though it was released in 1998, it had been recorded years earlier, after the success of the first album. The title is a play on the name of the Beatles' self-titled 1968 album, commonly known as "The White Album", with the skin color of the characters of The Simpsons. In addition, the cover is a parody of the Beatles' 1967 album, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.
"Within You Without You" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles from their 1967 album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. Written by lead guitarist George Harrison, it was his second composition in the Indian classical style, after "Love You To", and inspired by his stay in India in late 1966 with his mentor and sitar teacher Ravi Shankar. Recorded in London without the other Beatles, it features Indian instrumentation such as sitar, tambura, dilruba and tabla, and was performed by Harrison and members of the Asian Music Circle. The recording marked a significant departure from the Beatles' previous work; musically, it evokes the Indian devotional tradition, while the overtly spiritual quality of the lyrics reflects Harrison's absorption in Hindu philosophy and the teachings of the Vedas.
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band is a 1978 American jukebox musical comedy film directed by Michael Schultz, written by Henry Edwards and starring an ensemble cast led by Peter Frampton and the Bee Gees. Depicting the loosely constructed story of a band as they wrangle with the music industry and battle evil forces bent on stealing their instruments and corrupting their hometown of Heartland, the film is presented in a form similar to that of a rock opera, with the songs providing "dialogue" to carry the story. George Burns has most of the spoken lines that act to clarify the plot and provide further narration but there are a few other lines throughout the movie.
"Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" is a song written by Paul McCartney, credited to Lennon–McCartney, released in 1967 on the album of the same name by the Beatles. The song appears twice on the album: as the opening track, and as "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)", the penultimate track. As the title song, the lyrics introduce the fictional band that performs on the album.
"She's Leaving Home" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles, written by Paul McCartney and John Lennon, and released on their 1967 album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. Paul McCartney wrote and sang the verse and John Lennon wrote the chorus, which they sang together. Neither George Harrison nor Ringo Starr were involved in the recording. The song's instrumental background was performed entirely by a small string orchestra arranged by Mike Leander, and is one of only a handful of Beatles recordings in which none of the members played a musical instrument.
"Lovely Rita" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles from their 1967 album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. It was written mainly by Paul McCartney and credited to Lennon–McCartney. It is about a meter maid and the narrator's affection for her.
"Good Morning Good Morning" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles from their 1967 album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. It was written by John Lennon and credited to Lennon–McCartney. Inspiration for the song came to Lennon from a television commercial for Kellogg's Corn Flakes. Another reference to contemporary television was the lyric "It's time for tea and Meet the Wife", referring to the BBC sitcom.
A segue is a transition from one topic or section to the next. The term is derived from Italian segue, which literally means "follows".
Blue Wild Angel: Live at the Isle of Wight is a posthumous live album by Jimi Hendrix released on November 12, 2002. The album documents Hendrix's last U.K. live performance at the Isle of Wight Festival on August 31, 1970, three weeks before his death. The set list for the concert contained songs from the original Experience albums, as well as new songs. Some were previously available on Isle of Wight (1971) and Live Isle of Wight '70 (1991). "Power to Love ", "Midnight Lightning", and "Foxy Lady" released in the US on the three record set The First Great Rock Festivals of the 70s: Isle of Wight/Atlanta Pop Festival" released on Columbia Records in 1971.
George Lucas's science fiction multi-film Star Wars saga has had a significant impact on modern popular culture. Star Wars references are deeply embedded in popular culture; references to the main characters and themes of Star Wars are casually made in many English-speaking countries with the assumption that others will understand the reference. Darth Vader has become an iconic villain, while characters such as Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Princess Leia, Chewbacca, C-3PO and R2-D2 have all become widely recognized characters around the world. Phrases such as "evil empire", "May the Force be with you", Jedi mind trick and "I am your father" have become part of the popular lexicon. The first Star Wars film in 1977 was a cultural unifier, enjoyed by a wide spectrum of people.
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band is a double album produced by George Martin, featuring covers of songs by the Beatles. It was released in July 1978, as the soundtrack to the film Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, which starred the Bee Gees, Peter Frampton and Steve Martin. This work has received universally negative reviews and is considered some of the worst music ever released.
Easy Star's Lonely Hearts Dub Band is a dub reggae tribute to the Beatles' album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, by the Easy Star All-Stars. It was released on April 14, 2009.
Daniel Edward Amrich is an American writer, author, actor, musician, and social media expert. He graduated from Ithaca College with a major in audio production and minor in writing and became a professional journalist and critic with numerous video game and music magazines and websites. He has worked for leading print and online journals including Flux Magazine, Wired, Time Out New York, and others. He works for Ubisoft as a content designer, and resides in the San Francisco Bay Area in California.
Sgt. Pepper's is a tribute album consisting of covers of the entirety of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band by The Beatles. The album was recorded by Big Daddy in 1992 and features covers which combine the lyrics and some musical elements from the original Beatles versions with stylistic elements of certain genres and musicians, mostly ones popularized in the 1920s-1950s. The album's release coincided with the 25th anniversary of the original Beatles album. It was the band's last album until 2013's Smashing Songs of Stage and Screen.
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band: 50th Anniversary Edition is an expanded reissue of the 1967 album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band by the English rock band the Beatles. It was released on 26 May 2017, the album's 50th anniversary. It includes a new stereo remix of the album by Giles Martin, the son of Beatles producer George Martin.